The name 'Observatory' is misleading, as there's no building here. The site is a shaded picnic area with some lava escape tunnels and walking trails that let you get up close to recent lava, much of it covered now with small pine trees. Smoky Minami-dake, the southernmost peak of Sakurajima, smoulders above you.
Arimura Lava Observatory
Kyūshū
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Near Sakurajima's east coast, the top of a once-3m-high torii (shrine gate) emerges from the volcanic ash at Kurokami; the rest of it was buried in the…
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3. Karasujima Observation Point
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South of the visitor centre is this observation point, where the 1914 lava flow engulfed a small island that had once been 500m offshore. There's now an…
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Kagoshima's large city hall, in a tan brick building, is a handy landmark.
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- placement: superzone
- path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
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